Silent Films by the Lumière Brothers and Evgeni Bauer

The many silent films we watched during class on Thursday were quite interesting. The films from the Lumière Brothers were quite fascinating, due to their sheer simplicity. I can understand how during the time of which they were created, the viewers would be completely enthralled by moving images, even those that are not fascinating by a conventional standpoint. The other three films we watched were unfortunately not as entertaining to me; The Child of the Big City, the 1002nd Ruse and The Dying Swan were quality films for the time, but they were just not my cup of tea. The Child of the Big City was difficult to follow, as was the 1002nd Ruse. The Dying Swan however was easier to follow and had a curious story, in addition to having a better soundtrack. In the Child of the Big City and the 1002nd Ruse, the only sound playing being a piano accompaniment. In The Dying Swan, in addition to piano, there was a violin; this gave the film a more dramatic dynamic (which due to it being a drama, suited the film well.) One must also take into consideration the time during which these films were created; cinematography was nearly as advanced as it is today and the ability to record and dub sound over video did not yet exist. Therefore, the ability to convey a story relied on the skill of the actors and the scantly used text that was used to clarify things that could not be understood otherwise. The certain gestures, expressions and other aspects of the actors' performances did not help to clarify the story because they were specific to the Russian culture.The fact of the matter is that in the three films by Evgeni Bauer, I was could not fully appreciate them because of two reasons: the fact that they were in a different language and that they were silent.